Sriracha Is Ruining People’s Lives

The city of Irwindale, California, filed suit yesterday against Sriracha-sauce-maker Huy Fong Foods over the “powerful, painful odor” emanating from its production facility, the L.A. Times reports. Residents say that hot-sauce fumes from the 64,000-square-foot factory are causing headaches, irritating eyes, and, in at least one instance, ruining a child’s birthday party. Now, the court may force the factory to cease rooster-sauce production if it cannot present a plan to mitigate what’s been termed a “public nuisance.” Does this mean the Sriracha backlash is now in full effect?

Well, it certainly is if you factor in the sheer audacity of 7-Eleven’s new “Diablo Chicken Ranch Sandwich,” a cold-cut monstrosity presented on a pretzel bun slathered with “Sriracha ranch” sauce, yet another sign that once the condiment goes mainstream, it may lose some respectability. After all, one of the main reasons we cling to our Sriracha sauce so much is because of the complete unlikeliness of its existence in the first place, and the powerful origin story of its plucky (and vaguely enigmatic) founder David Tran, who created a billion-dollar empire from scratch.

But on its own, not so much. The fact is, the L.A. Times points out,
production for the entire year takes place between September and December, so right now it’s crunch time inside the 65,000-square-foot Irwindale factory. Huy Fong probably just needs to get a better HVAC system installed.